Pakistan’s student community and the United States of America, both haven’t learnt any lessons from history or from the past that doesn’t seem to go away. Students, because they keep raising their voice even when they know that it’s an exercise in futility; and the US, because it keeps doing what it feels it ought to be doing. On Aug 13, 1964 a students’ deputation headed by Mahmud Khan waited on the US ambassador Walter P. McConaughy and submitted an open letter in Urdu to the US President Lyndon B Johnson demanding an immediate stoppage to US American action in North Vietnam. Did their letter bear fruit and have any effect on the region? I think we all know the answer to that. In case you’re still wondering, the answer is, ‘no’.

Let’s touch upon regionalism of a different kind now. On Aug 10, speaking at a symposium on medical education at the JPMC, Central Minister for Health, Labour and Social Welfare, Abd-Allah Zaheeruddin (aka Lal Mian) said the JPMC would be made a regional institution under a CENTO sponsorship programme. He added the government had already approved the proposal and only the details were being worked out. Interesting nugget of news!

On Aug 12 and 13, respectively, two contrasting news items, so to speak, described the kind of confused mindset with which the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation worked. First, it was reported that the KMC planned to lease out the area covered by Maulvi Musafirkhana, a nearby plot and the storm-drain side of Ranchhore Lines and Frere Road for construction of a multi-storeyed building on a cooperative basis. The next day it was learnt that strict measures were being taken by the KMC’s horticulture department to protect roadside plantation. A week back, the department had imposed a fine of Rs2,000 on a local firm for cutting the branches of a tree on Bunder Road (now M. A. Jinnah Road) with the corporation’s permission.

So, on the one hand, the KMC was trying to protect trees and plants that once dotted the cityscape, on the other it was planning to replace colonial architecture with contemporary utility buildings. Are we talking about the past?   

The KMC’s own building, however, was cutting a different picture altogether on Aug 14 (Independence Day). As per the celebratory occasion, the historic structure was decorated like a bride. The picture of the lit-up edifice was published on Aug 16. It carried the caption: KMC building illuminated on Independence Day.

Aug 16, 1961 was the date when the Baba-i-Urdu passed away. So that day in 1964 the third death anniversary of Maulvi Abdul Haq was observed at the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu office. The event was presided over by Akhtar Husain, president of the Anjuman and chairman of the National Press Trust. Speakers, including Mr Husain, said Mr Haq was dedicated to the cause of the Urdu language in such a way that it brought greater socio-cultural ‘consolidation’ to the Muslim nation. You wonder what would have the Baba-i-Urdu thought if he had witnessed the state of both Urdu and the Muslim nation in 2014.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2014